ARIWLBBC Chapter 99

A faint fragrance lingered in the air. In a half-dreaming, half-awake state, Bo Ge’s eyelids twitched slightly. Some specific sensations could trigger subconscious memories in humans—like the texture of mutant creature mucus.

Back on the desolate planet, over a dozen mutant creatures encircled Bo Ge warily, their sticky secretions slowly gathering and dripping to the ground.

“Picking soldiers, choosing generals, riding horses into battle…”

Bo Ge pointed at each mutant creature in turn, matching a word to each tap. The chosen creature would instinctively shudder, then sigh in relief when his finger moved on.

“Whoever gets picked is out of luck.”

With the last word of the rhyme, his fingertip landed on a slippery, multi-legged creature.

The chosen mutant began trembling violently, its mucus splattering in all directions. Its dull gray-white eyes showed traces of fear, and its numerous legs twitched and shuffled backward. As Bo Ge looked at the scaly, grotesque creature—so ugly it defied human understanding—he sighed and put on the low-frequency communicator Mr. Weimann had given him.

“Alright. Do I have to do this myself, or are you going to surrender?”

The mutant let out a low, threatening growl, its numerous eyes locked onto the young human before it. Its legs trembled as it continued retreating—until one leg tripped over another. The creature struggled, but with so many legs tangled together, it only managed to tie itself into an impossibly complex knot.

“Good boy.”

Bo Ge stepped forward and easily hoisted the creature up. From the reflection in its countless eyes, he caught a glimpse of himself—a scrawny twelve or thirteen-year-old with a dirt-streaked face and matted hair. Except for his bright black eyes, there was nothing remarkable about his appearance.

“Since you tied yourself up voluntarily, I’ll be gentle with you.”****”

His voice was crisp, almost sweet.

The mutant let out a desperate roar, struggling wildly, as if pleading for help from its indifferent companions.

The other creatures, untouched by Bo Ge’s game, lazily licked their fangs and turned away.

“Alright.”

The boy clapped his hands, imitating Mr. Weimann’s mannerisms. He donned a tattered white lab coat, picked up a charcoal pencil, and began scribbling on paper.

“Experiment No. 1111.”

Bo Ge glanced at the multi-legged creature.

“That’s a pretty special number. Not only does it mean you’re the 1,111th creature I’ve captured for communication practice, but it also suggests you might have the fragrance of a perpetual bachelor.”

He beamed.

“Do you know what a ‘bachelor dog’ is?”

His eyes sparkled with excitement.

“It means someone who has been single since birth—like a beautiful, lonely flower! But even bachelors like us have our own holidays. There’s a nationwide shopping spree, though some couples act shamelessly and use the day to flaunt their love instead!”

The mutant shuddered violently.

“Am I talking too much?” Bo Ge furrowed his brows. “I think it’s been a long time since I last saw Mr. Weimann. Other than him, there’s no one else on this planet I can talk to. I might just go crazy from holding it all in.”

He paused, then suddenly muttered, “Wait, why doesn’t Mr. Weimann ever nag at me?”

Then realization dawned.

“Oh, I remember! He talks to himself all the time—maybe he’s got it worse than I do.”

As Bo Ge rambled, he paced back and forth in front of the mutant creature, lost in thought.

Time passed.

Eventually, his mouth went dry, so he grabbed his oversized sports bottle, filled it from the purifier, and gulped down half of it in one go.

“Alright! Let’s officially begin!”

He adjusted his low-frequency communicator and approached the mutant creature.

But the creature didn’t move.

Its mucus had dried. Its tongue lolled out. Its eyes—swollen and bloodshot—looked ready to pop from their sockets. Its body had bloated, exuding a foul stench.

In short, it had died with its eyes wide open.

Bo Ge silently squatted in a corner and drew circles on the ground.

A wasted effort.

“Experiment No. 1111 displayed excessive frailty. After six hours of restraint, its mucus dried out, its eyes protruded, and its body rapidly decomposed. It died before communication could be attempted. Cause of death unknown.”

Flipping through his notes, Bo Ge found at least six or seven hundred other mutants with similar unexplained deaths.

These creatures came in all kinds of bizarre shapes, with extra limbs being standard. In the wild, they were fierce, capable of camouflage and ambush. Their teeth were sharp, their claws deadly.

Yet once captured, they died quickly.

Bo Ge had observed them in their natural habitat. Some mutants collapsed and died out of nowhere, their corpses in the same state as this one.

Their lifespans seemed utterly worthless. They couldn’t reproduce, didn’t nurture offspring, and often resorted to cannibalism.

And yet, for some reason, they still existed in overwhelming numbers on this desolate planet.

Bo Ge studied the research report in deep thought. Compared to normal animals, these mutant creatures seemed far more useful for assassinations or eliminating living beings.

Their short existence revolved around a single goal—”eat meat.”

As long as they were placed near a target, they would devour it, sometimes leaving not even the bones behind. Shortly after, the creatures would suddenly die and decompose rapidly. They were the perfect disposable killers.

Excited, Bo Ge rushed to share his discovery with Mr. Weimann.

“Is that really what you think?” Mr. Weimann glanced sideways at the small boy.

“Yes.”

Bo Ge had scrubbed himself clean beforehand. Mr. Weimann was a germaphobe, and anyone entering his lab had to go through a rigorous cleansing and disinfection process. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but seeing another living person made it worthwhile.

“So, I believe these creatures are just tools. They have no real value for communication.” The boy puffed out his chest, speaking with conviction.

Mr. Weimann smiled faintly. “You’re very smart.”

Bo Ge straightened proudly.

“However, that small bit of intelligence won’t guarantee your survival in danger.”

“So…?” The boy’s confidence deflated instantly. He looked up pitifully. “I still have to keep capturing them and trying to communicate?”

“It seems you already know the answer.”

Mr. Weimann nodded slightly, pushing his goggles up his nose before turning his attention back to the test tube in his hand.

Bo Ge hesitated, then tried to start a conversation. “Mr. Weimann, what experiment are you working on?”

No response. The elf didn’t even glance at him, as if he hadn’t spoken at all.

Feeling awkward, Bo Ge scratched his head and turned to leave. But just as he lifted his foot, a voice came from behind him.

“They have a unique way of communicating. If you can understand one, you can understand them all.

Even if you don’t comprehend their language, you can still use their communication methods to instill fear in related species. If one fears you, others will follow. You must spread that fear until none of them can pose a threat to you.”

Mr. Weimann had never spoken to him this much before!

Bo Ge spun around excitedly, only to see the elf still staring motionlessly at the test tube, his expression unchanged—

As if he had never spoken at all.

“Mr. Weimann, you spoke too fast just now—I didn’t catch it.” Bo Ge looked up pitifully at the elf.

The elf remained expressionless and fell into silence once more.

Something lightly brushed against Bo Ge’s face, ticklish and uncomfortable. Even in his dream, he reached up to touch his face, but the itch remained. Reality and dreams blurred for a moment as he opened his eyes to find a red-haired man in front of him, playfully tickling his face with the ends of his hair.

Behind the red-haired man stood another man with a square-shaped face, looking prim and proper. When he saw Bo Ge wake up, he silently poked the red-haired man in the back.

“Ai Meng comrade, why are you poking me? My ten minutes aren’t up yet! It’s not your turn!”

Ten minutes? Were they taking turns playing?!

Bo Ge sat up and stared at the two men with a blank expression.

“Who are you?”

“We’re actors from your film crew,” the square-faced man said seriously. “My name is Zhong You, and he’s Miu Ke. The prosecutors couldn’t find any information on your guardian, and your assistant is currently being questioned, so we’ve been assigned to temporarily look after you.”

After what happened with Lao Jin, Bo Ge eyed the two men warily.

“You don’t recognize us?!” Miu Ke looked hurt by Bo Ge’s indifferent gaze. “I’m a famous dwarven actor! I’ve starred in so many web dramas! I’m super popular!”

“And this Ai Meng comrade here, he’s been in tons of action films! You must have seen at least one or two, right?”

“Calm down. The human just went through a traumatic experience. Lower your voice so you don’t scare him again.” Zhong You pressed a hand on Miu Ke’s shoulder, looking serious.

Miu Ke took a deep breath, pulled up his personal terminal, and displayed several web dramas. “Look at these! The lead actor—isn’t that me?”

Bo Ge carefully compared the images and nodded slightly.

“The director, producer, and inspector will be here soon to explain everything to you,” Zhong You tried to reassure the young human. “I’m really sorry you had to go through this on your first day.”

“That bad guy… did you catch him?” Bo Ge hesitantly asked.

“You mean Lao Jin? He was taken away,” Miu Ke twirled a lock of his red hair around his finger. “Apparently, his terminal got hit with a virus, and his information was leaked. The case is still under investigation.”

“Don’t worry—harming a rare species is a serious crime. The inspectors will get to the bottom of this.”

At least three different groups of people came to check on Bo Ge afterward. The inspector questioned him briefly, but to Bo Ge’s disappointment, by the time Hai Tu explained the situation, the fake Lao Jin had already disappeared. Worse yet, at the site of the attack, not a single monster corpse remained—only pools of corrosive fluid, along with traces of Luo Qi and the assistant director’s blood and some scattered flesh.

“Can you release Hai Tu now?” Bo Ge asked, worried about Teacher Tu.

“We only needed him for a report. He’s free to go now,” the inspector smiled. “I think he went to check on Luo Qi. That guy is tough—he woke up even earlier than you.”

Ignoring the fact that the “half-elven, inhuman freak” had woken up before him, Bo Ge lay back in bed, debating whether to message Big Cat.

Big Cat was probably busy, and if he found out what had happened, he definitely wouldn’t let Bo Ge participate in the Alliance Celebration anymore.

Just then, something wrapped up like a mummy burst into the hospital room, waving a stack of translucent photographs excitedly.

“Bo Ge! I hit the jackpot!”

Each photo featured a stunning image of Luo Qi, all signed with an elegant flourish.

“Look! Luo Qi signed them for me! And he even invited me to dinner! I scored big time!”

“Teacher Tu?” Bo Ge tilted his head, staring at the beastman who was wrapped up so tightly that only his eyes were visible. “What happened to you?”

“Don’t even mention it. When the inspection drones pulled me out, I got scratched and smacked by tree branches.” Hai Tu stretched a bit. “Don’t worry—I’ll be fine in two or three days. Luo Qi is such a nice guy! When I told him my skirt got torn, he immediately bought me a new one!”

“But he got eaten so badly… How did he wake up before me?” Bo Ge muttered, feeling slightly annoyed.

“He’s an elf! His bloodline is incredibly noble, and his self-healing abilities are way better than us ordinary beastmen!” Hai Tu couldn’t help but sigh. “No wonder he was voted the most beautiful face by humans—he’s not just pretty, he’s kind too!”

Bo Ge chose to remain silent. He recalled the moment he peeled back the gnawed white fur and saw Luo Qi’s fresh, steaming internal organs…

Forget kindness—he was definitely skipping dinner.

Meanwhile, in the adjacent two-person hospital room…

The assistant director sat teary-eyed, staring at the elf, whose entire body was covered in a thin layer of white membrane. He blinked a few times.

“Don’t look at me like that.” Luo Qi rested his hands lightly on his abdomen, looking peaceful. “You’ve already apologized three hundred times, and told me two hundred times that it was your fault. If you say it again, I’ll have no choice but to plug my ears with soundproof blockers.”

“No, that’s not it. I just realized something—you don’t believe what I told the inspector just now.” The assistant director looked at him with utter sincerity.

“Why don’t you believe me? That human kid twisted several monsters to death with his bare hands! The rest of the creatures ran away because of him!”

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